Justin Stephens(NEW YORK) — Amy Schumer is best known for her shocking comedy, but also for being a feminist. In fact, Glamour magazine has named her the new face of feminism. It’s a role she didn’t expect to fill.
“It was very unexpected. I don’t try to be feminist. I just am. It’s innately inside me,” she explains in the August issue on which she also graces the cover. “I have no interest in trying to be the perfect feminist, but I do believe feminists are in good hands with me.”
The Inside Amy Schumer creator, who often calls out sexism in her comedy bits, says that since childhood she’s paid attention to how women are treated differently than men.
“Every woman deals with it most every day of their lives. Growing up, it’s just in your day-to-day,” she adds. “There are all these preconceived notions of what it means to be a woman or a girl, and straying from those ideas of femininity is sort of shocking to people. I felt angered by that as a kid. I felt like that was unjust. Like that was not right.”
The comedienne also has dealt with sexism in her own life, especially now that she’s found success. For instance, some in comedy circles have joked that Schumer has slept her way to the top — but it’s no laughing matter for her.
“And the whole ‘Who did she sleep with?’ to get whatever? I’ve never slept with anyone who could help me at all,” she clarifies, before joking, “No one. I wish I had. If anything, everyone I’ve had sex with has been a real step in the wrong direction.”
Schumer continues, “I had a comedian one time pull me onto his lap, and I said, ‘Never do that to me again. You and I are not gonna play like that.’ I hope I do influence other women to set better boundaries for themselves.”
Schumer next will be seen on the big screen in Trainwreck, in which she portrays a woman who loves dating but has no interest in being tied down. It hits theaters July 17.
Copyright © 2015, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
